Method of forming material for containers



April 8, 1941. P. M. GILFILLAN METHOD OF FORMING MATERIAL FOR CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 5, 1938 Paul M Zflllan 1 Patented Apr. 8, 1941 METHOD OF FORMING MATERIAL FOR CONTAINERS Paul M. Gilflllan, Mount Vernon, Ohio, assignor to Shellmar Products Company, Mount Vernon, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application January 5, 1938, Serial No. 183,417

Claims.

provision 01 a duplex tube or sheet consisting of two webs oi! Cellophane or the like secured to,- gether by narrow strips of an adhesive along the longitudinal edges thereof and provided with means for holding the ends of the sleeve in contiguous relation without the entrapment of air.

Another object of the invention is to provide a duplex sleeve for the formation of containers and having one of the sleeves, which is intended to be the outer layer of the container, printed in reverse with a design, the two layers of material being secured together along their edge portions.

A further object of the invention is the production of a container by printing in reverse the underside of one web of transparent cellulose sheeting, laminating the web to a second web along lines designed to be the free edges of the container, cutting the webs into container lengths with laminated edges, foldingthe resulting duplex material about a mandrel, and securing the laminated edges together with additional adhesive.

.Still another object of the invention is to produce container material byprinting a plurality of transversely spaced designs on a, relatively wide web of cellulose sheeting, printing a longitudinal line of adhesive between said designs, printing spaced transverse lines of adhesive between certain of said designs, adhering said web to a second web and cutting the combined webs into container blanks with the longitudinal lines of adhesive forming the edges of the blanks and the spaced transverse lines of the adhesive forming container lengths are wrapped about a hollow mandrel;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the completed container formed about the hollow mandrel, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an adhesive applicator of the type employed in producing the improved type of duplex material.

As shown in Fig. 1 the process involves the passage of a continuous web ID of transparent cellulose material such as Cellophane or cellulose acetate through an intaglio printing machine in which the web initially is printed by one or more color units and provided with adhesive. The initial printing unit consists of an etched cylinder II which rotates in a. color bath I! provided with a volatile lacquer ink and a doctor blade l3 which removes the excess ink from the etched cylinder. A conventional impression cylinder I4 is positioned above the printing cylinder and the web passes between the two cylinders to receive the deposit of the quick-drying ink. Quick-drying lntaglio inks of this sort are Well known and there is no necessity for giving any particular formulas. Generally, the ink consists of low viscosity nitro cellulose, gums, resins, plasticizers and pigments contained in a suitable organic solvent of high volatility. It will be understood that any number of printing units of this sort may be utilized for providing the desired color or multi-color on the printed web. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the cylinder Ii is etched so as to provide recurring oppositely-positioned designs as shown in Fig. 2. That is, the design ABC is oppositely positioned in its adjacent occurrences. The purpose of this will be understood from the description occurring hereinafter.

The second intaglio unit shown in Fig. 1 consists of a printing cylinder l5, color bath i8, doctor blade I1, and impression roller [8. This color unit is 01 subtsantially the same construction as the first described color unit and the etched intaglio cylinder I5 is provided with an etched design as shown in Fig. 5. This etched design consists of relatively narrow and continuous side portions l9, relatively wide continuous circular portions 20, and spaced transverse sections 2|. The liquid medium in the bath I6 is adhesive in character and may or may not be colored. In one satisfactory embodiment oi the invention the liquid medium in the color bath I6 is a transparent relatively quick-drying adhesive of the type which forms a satisfactory adhesion between two webs of transparent cellulose sheeting.

Immediately after the application of the adhesive by the etched cylinder I! the web i0 is brought in contact between compression rollers 22 and 23, with a second web 24 taken from roll 25, this second web being the interior web of the resulting duplex material. The rolls 2! and 23 cause the web 24 to adhere to the under side of web iii and the combined webs then are wound into roll form as shown at 26.

Where it is desired that the interior of the container be visible, as usually is'the case, the web 2 3 is composed of a transparent cellulose sheeting. However, in some cases it will be found desirable to substitute a translucent or opaque material for the transparent web and the inner layer of the duplex material may be composed of foil, glassineor the like. Where an opaque material is used it is desirable to provide window openings through which the contents of the container may be observed, the openings preferably being in predetermined position with respect to the printed design on the exterior web.

The roll 26 is subjected to a slitting and cutting operation in which the composite web is slit along the center of the relatively wide longitudinally extending laminated lines 27 which are deposited by the etched portions Zil oi the cylinder it, it being understood that some of the glue line remains on each of the slit sections to provide three container-forming sections as shown in Fig. 2. Thereafter the blanks are cut transversely along the center of the broken transverse glue lines 28 which are deposited by the broken edge lines 2i of the cylinder 55.

This transverse cutting operation severs three container blanks from the slit sections. Each of these blanks consists of two layers of transparent cellulose sheeting laminated by continuous glue lines along their longitudinal edges and provided with broken or segmental glue lines along their transverse edges, the outer of the laminated sheets having on its under side printed designs reversely positioned at opposite ends of the blank.

The resulting blank is formed into a container substantially as described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 66,021, filed February 27, 1936. That is, the blank is folded evenly about the end of a hollow mandrel as shown in Fig. 3 to form continuous front, bottom and side walls and with the printed designs appearing on opposite sides. Then, the edges of the blank extend beyond the hollow mandrel and the blank is provided with lines 29 of thermoplastic adhesive which are applied to the edge portions of the outside transparent cellulose sheet. More particularly, marginal lines of thermoplastic adhesive are deposited on the outside of the sheet of transparent cellulose along the length of one side and the width of the bottom, the line preferably being extended slightly beyond the bottom. The thermoplastic adhesive then is dried and the blank is folded about the hollow mandrel as shown in Fig. 4. Heat and pressure then are applied over the folded over portions to form a complete container. The edge portions of the blank extend somewhat beyond the hollow mandrel, and in the folding operation the bottom sectlons initially are folded adjacent the mandrel. Then, the glued side sections are folded against the mandrel. The unglued sections finally are folded in overlapped relation with respect to the thermoplastic lines of adhesive to complete the folding operation.

It will be noted that the resulting container has a continuous seal along the longitudinal edges of the composite web and that the outside of the outer section of the container is adhered to the inside of the inner section of the composite material. Also, the open ends of the finished container have spaced glue lines adhering to the inner and outer sections of the composite container.

The winding of the composite web into roll form has a beneficial effect upon the container which subsequently is produced from the webs.

Apparently, the formation from a roll has an equalizing efiect upon the shrinkage and stretch of the two materials which results in the formation oi uniform containers.

The sectional transverse glue lines by which the upper edges of the inner and outer webs are secured together are advantageous from many standpoints. In the winding of the composite into the roll 26 fewer difliculties are encountered where the composite webs i0 and 24 are transversely secured together in spaced intervals by sectional glue lines than where no such transverse procurements are provided. The sectional lines likewise are considerably more satisfactory than continuous transverse glue lines which cause wrinkles in the stock as it is wound into roll form and is apt to result in the entrapment of air within the interior of the composite sleeve or tube. The sectional transverse glue lines prevent changes of appearance in the composite container due to atmospheric changes and provides a substantially unitary edge for the open end of the container.

is before stated. the inner web may be composed of various materials. One of the webs may be plain Cellophane and the other web moistureproof Cellophane. The number of combinations of material possible is almost unlimited. After formation of the container about the hollow mandrel the mandrel may be removed and the container filled and sealed or the container may be filled through the hollow mandrel. Many variations are possible in the method and container. The composition of the ink and adhesives may vary considerably as may the shape and size of the container blanks. The various changes which may be made without departing from the invention are intended to be included in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of forming container blanks, which comprises printing a web of transparent cellulose sheeting with recurring designs deposited in reverse, depositing substantially continuous marginal lines of an adhesive material along said web, depositing sectional transverse lines of adhesive along said web in predetermined relation with respect to said printed designs, contacting the printed side of said web with a second web to form a composite web adhered together along said adhesive lines, and

winding said composite web into roll form.

2. The method of forming container blanks, which comprises printing a web of transparent cellulose sheeting with recurring designs deposited in reverse, depositing substantially continuous marginal lines of an adhesive material along said web, depositing sectional transverse lines of adhesive along said web in predetermined relation with respect to said printed designs, contacting the printed side of said web with a second web to form a composite web adhered together along said adhesive lines, winding said composite web into roll form, unwinding said composite web from said roll, and severing said composite web along said sectional transverse lines of adhesive.

3. The method of forming container blanks, which comprises depositing spaced designs of a quick-drying intaglio ink inreverse on a web of transparent cellulose sheeting, depositing continuous side lines of an adhesive material on said web, depositing spaced sectional transverse lines of an adhesive from said web, combining said web with a second web along said lines of adhesive, winding said web in roll form, unwinding the composite web, and severing said web along said transverse adhesive lines.

4. The method of forming container blanks, which comprises depositing marginal and intermediate longitudinal lines of adhesive on the under side of a web of transparent cellulose sheeting, depositing spaced transverse interrupted lines of adhesive on the under side of said web, contacting said web with a second web to produce a composite web along said adhesive lines, winding said composite web into roll form,

unwinding said composite web, slitting the com.- posite web along said intermediate longitudinal adhesive lines, and cutting said web transversely across said interrupted adhesive lines.

5. The method of forming container" blanks, which includes printing a web of transparent cellulose sheeting with receiving designs deposited in reverse, depositing continuous marginal lines of an adhesive material along said web, depositing sectional transverse lines of adhesive along said web in predetermined relation with respect to said printed designs, preventing the entrapment of air within finished blanks and preventing wrinkling by spacing the sectional transverse lines of adhesive from the continuous marginal lines, contacting the printed side oi! said web with a second web to form a composite web adhered together along said adhesive lines, winding said composite web into roll form, unwinding said composite web from said roll, and severing said composite web along and within said sectional transverse lines of adhesive.

PAUL M. GILFILLAN. 

